Wild Moon
by BellatheKlutz
Summary: Jacob Black, two weeks after leaving LaPush, finds himself in a completely different place, all the way on the east coast. Things begin to heat up when he imprints on a local girl...JB/OC
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Twilight...though I'd love to have Jacob or Edward XD

And it'd be great if someone could give me some feedback...XD

**Katie Sanders**

_It was dark again, darker than it had been the night before. Normally this didn't bother me; yet tonight some sixth sense told me that I ought to be very frightened indeed. They were coming for me now, really coming. And yet, even as I ran through the forest, I was not afraid. Because I knew he was there, somehow. The wolf was here to protect me..._

_Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing _The annoying sound of my alarm jerked me roughly from my dream, or, more accurately, nightmare, bringing me into a brand new summer day much earlier than I'd have liked. I glanced over at the clock sitting at the far end of the wooden bookshelf at the foot of my canopy bed, internally cursing as I read the time which was broadcasted in bright blue numbers: **7:30 am.**

At the beginning of the summer, when my boss, Tim, had asked me if I wanted to pick up an extra dollar per hour and a few more shifts, I'd said yes right away, without thinking of the consequences. For example, the whole-getting-up-at-the-crack-of-dawn-factor. That certainly hadn't been mentioned in my job description.

But still, I'd made a commitment, and actually did enjoy making a couple extra bucks to spend. Plus, it wasn't as though being a lifeguard and swim instructor was a particularly difficult job. Lifeguarding was 98 sitting in a chair and getting tan; and I honestly enjoyed bouncing around with the little tykes early in the morning. Still, I had to remind myself of this "love" for my job as I hauled my lazy butt out of bed, and stumbled over to my chest of drawers. I'd been working for just two weeks this summer already, but I already had my morning routine down pat. Probably because it never changed, except for every other Friday, and sometimes weekends, but really, hardly enough to break a routine.

Therefore, it was hardly necessary for me to waste "valuable" time trying to figure out what to wear, mostly because I knew what I'd wind up in anyway, the required staff uniform- a red bathing suit with the word "GUARD" stamped across the front, over which I'd throw red shorts and a white "Staff" t-shirt, which was way too big for me, despite being a small. After running over to the bathroom to wash my face and brush my teeth, I hurried back to my room to grab my stuff. I barely even looked at myself in the mirror as I hastily brushed my long, dark-blonde, hair and pulled it back into a ponytail, mostly because I figured that the kids I taught really wouldn't (or shouldn't) care that much about what I looked like while teaching them, and I'd just be jumping right in the water anyway, so really, any attempt to make myself look halfway decent would be entirely wasted in the long run.

Having hurriedly thrown some clothes on, I grabbed my faded black Adidas drawstring bag, chucking my wallet, car keys, cell phone, whistle, and towel into it, and darted downstairs, fully aware of the fact that I was just barely going to make my 7:45 call time. On my way past the kitchen, I grabbed a back of cinnamon Poptarts- mostly because I knew I'd be hungry later while at the pool, and my friend Ice-cream Truck Man didn't come until at least two, sometimes after.

I ran out into my car- a beat up white Toyota Camry- threw my stuff into the passenger seat, fished my keys out, and started the engine. Another glance at the clock told me that I was indeed going to be late for shift. Still, the pool I was working at today was only about five minutes away. I reminded myself of this as I took off out of the driveway, speeding down my quiet street.

I was right about being late-I ran into the facility about five minutes after I was supposed to be there. Of all four pools that Glouster Parks and Recreation has, Groto is probably my favorite one to work it. It's close to my house for one thing, and in a quiet neighborhood so guarding's always easy, but it's also surrounded completely by woods, which makes my hour long breaks pass by much quicker than they should. It's not as fancy as Terry, but then, it's not as crowded either. The pool itself is fairly small, maybe about 25 yards long, with a springboard at the "deep" end (personally, I thought that 10 feet hardly qualified as deep enough, even for the tiny board that we had, and had the list of first aid calls to prove it, but year after year, I was overruled..) Plus, the people running it are all college students, approximately my age, which is awesome, because we can be more, er, _relaxed_ about following little nitpicky technical rules and no one's around to care. For example, at Terry, the head guard would have given me a long lecture on my tardiness, but, since she was often late for work herself, our head guard, Laura, didn't really care. Besides, only a few of my kids had gotten there, and technically lessons didn't actually start until 8, and we couldn't really start until then, so life was good...sort of. Laura and Paul had made fun of my slightly deshelved entrance, but that was just how we all were. And the third instructor, Will, was even later than I was.

And so it was with in a much improved mood that I greeted my first class of the day- a scrawny, nervous-looking bunch of level ones. "Hi guys! I'm Katie Sanders, and I'll be your instructor for the next two weeks. Now, I'm going to start out by taking attendance, and when I call your name, I want you to shout out your favorite flavor of ice-cream, ok?" I held my clipboard up and began reading names off the list, one after the other, smiling at the various ice-cream flavors. You could tell a lot about someone from their ice cream preference- and I could tell that this was going to be one unique group of kids- I hadn't even known there was such a thing as banana ice cream.

Having finally completed attendance, I smiled at my new class, "Ok level ones, it's nice to meet you! So, tell me, how many of you have ever taken a swim lesson before?" About two in the group raised their hands. Joy. Majority of newbies.

However, I simply smiled more encouragingly and said, "That's wonderful! We have some new and old students here! Now, I want to let you know here and now that if you're ever uncomfortable with anything in this class, you should tell me- I pinky promise that I will NEVER make you do anything you don't wanna do, ok?" Some of the students looked visibly more relieved, and I continued, "So, without further ado, I want you guys to leave your towels here, and follow me over to the shallow end of the pool, while walking." I placed extra emphases on the word, hoping to illustrate the importance for them. "Who here knows why it's so important to walk?"

A small boy with a short blonde hair cut raised his hand, and I pointed to him, "Cause the lifeguards yell at you if you don't!"

I had to fight back a chuckle, "This is true, but who here knows why the lifeguard will yell at you? Can anyone think of any reason why running would be unsafe?"

A taller girl with brown pigtails and a bright green bathing suit raised her hand. I pointed to her. "'aCause we could slip and fall and scrape our knees."

I smiled at her, "Exactly! We always walk while on the pool deck because it can get very slippery, and the last thing I want to happen is to have one of you hurt, so it's very, very important that we WALK whenever near water."

By this point, we'd finally reached the shallow end. I sat down on the poolside, legs dangling over the side, and motioned for the kids to do the same. "Come on guys, sit, sit! Ok, we're going to start out by just getting wet. Stick your toes in! Come on, those toes wanna be in the water! Let's go!"

It took nearly fifteen minutes to get all the kids in the water- hardly surprising, considering it was a level one, but frustrating nonetheless. Still, I kept a bright smile on my face as I encouraged the group to stick their ears in the water, and "listen to the fishes".

Once the initial tensions had passed, the lesson began progressing somewhat faster- in more ways then one. Mostly it had to do with the fact that the kids were beginning to feel somewhat comfortable in the water, and they began to pick up what I could teach them in the last ten minutes rather rapidly. After I finally dismissed them, with a smile and a, "I'm very proud of you all, it's been a very productive first day! Good job!", I hurried over to the bench to grab my towel, and my clipboard, ready to take on whatever lesson Laura was planning to stick on me next.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Twilight characters, much as I wish I did...

Jacob Black

I wasn't human anymore. I was a creature, something horrible, a nightmare to any ordinary person. And yet, this was all I had left. This wolf form, the only thing left of the person I once was; the only think I wanted to be.

She had married him. I knew that much now, though I still couldn't quite say exactly how much time had passed. Hours had melted into days, which had melted into weeks. I knew I must be very far from home- somewhere on the east coast, in the woods next to some suburban town called Glouster- through, to be quite honestly, I wasn't entirely sure what state it was in. I wasn't even 100 sure that it was still in the United States...  
But this was the only solace I found, the solace of being alone, of being a nomad. I was fairly far away from the rest of the pack; not that I really could have recognized their voices even if I'd tried. I had rejected anything human. That was what had driven her away, wasn't it?

_Bella_ A ripple of pain found its way across my chest, and I curled up beneath a tree. It seemed to be night here now, and I realized that I should sleep. Reluctantly, I curled myself up beneath a tree, and allowed the pain to completely encompass me, washing me away into nothingness, praying never to wake.

"OK GUYS, MY NAME'S KATIE SANDERS AND I'LL BE YOUR INSTRUCTOR!" A voice, a beautiful, though admittedly quite loud, voice surrounded me, bringing be back to the present. I looked up in surprise, was there an angel speaking to me? As the pain faded away, and I began to surface, I found myself staring at the most incredible face I've ever seen. A human, but of course, this was no mere human, was addressing a group of young kids. I found myself transfixed by her every movement, unwilling to move for fear of missing a second. And that was when I realized that something drastic had happened- that I was no longer the same Jacob Black I had been- purposeless, directionless, alone. Rather, through I'd never seen her before in my life, I knew that she was my purpose, my sole reason for existing. My existence depended on her happiness, her safety, her...life.

I couldn't handle this anymore, I needed to know that she was happy, know if she needed help. Sitting around was no longer an option. I had to act, to win her trust, to make her happy. And just like that...I found I no longer wanted to be the wolf.

Human Jake was back.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Don't own the things I don't own, own the things I do? No copyright infringement intended...

Katie Sanders

The rest of lessons dragged by, but then, that was normal for first day- the kids were scared, and didn't know what to expect from this whole "new" swim lesson concept. It got easier with my last class of the morning, the parent-toddler class, which was surprising, considering "tots" was usually the most boring class of the day. Still, it was with a feeling of great relief that I hoisted myself from the pool and hurried back to the guard office, where I settled in a corner of the floor- we'd all made a pact not to soak the desk chairs before absolutely necessary- opened a bottle of water, took my morning dose of Prozac and then grabbed the Poptarts..

Will walked into the guard office, annoyed expression changing to amusement as he caught sight of me, looking very wet, curled up on the floor, with half a poptart stuffed into my mouth. "Manners, Sanders" he commented, pretending to be stern. "And I want one of those!'

I shook my head. "My poptats!" I protested with my mouth completely full. Will rolled his eyes, but couldn't say anything in protest, because, after all, I WAS the youngest working at the moment, and therefore under his protection. As my self-appointed big brother-protector type person, it's Will's duty to make sure other, "bigger" guards didn't "pick" pick on me. It was silly, because nearly all of the guards on staff treated me this way, and the others just didn't pick on me, but fun to play around with nonetheless. Mostly, I thought they did it because of my size- I was only about 5'1" and had only about 105 pounds of body weight to me. But really, appearances are definitely deceiving, as I'd proved last summer by easily shoving Will into the pool.

Having finally swallowed, I added stubbornly, "And you can't tell me what to do!"

Will crossed his arms right back, walking over so that he could tower over me in my sitting state, though, really he wasn't THAT much taller than me when I was standing...maybe about 6-7 inches or so... "Do you really wanna test that?" he smirked down at me.

I stuck my tongue out- very mature, I know- "There's nothing to prove, unless you wanna wind up even wetter than you are now."

His eyes narrowed. "Is that a challenge?"  
I nodded, smirk crossing my face. "I'll take you out RIGHT NOW!" I jumped to my feet, but before I could tackle him, Laura walked in, announcing,

"Ok, Tim just stopped by...guess what we GET to do!" Will and I both groaned in unison. Whenever Laura took that tone, it only meant one thing- time to do a drill.

Quickly, before Laura or Will could say otherwise, I called, "DIBS victim!" Laura grinned,

"Ok, Katie gets victim then. Will, you're going to be primary, and Paul...PAUL?" she turned around and called his name across the pool.

Paul, as usual, was laying lazily in the sun by the poolside. "Paul, for goodness sake, get up." Laura shouted at him. Though she was pretending to be cross, Will and I could tell she was trying very hard to suppress a smile.

"Why?" he called back, without even bothering to open his eyes. Laura sighed.

"Because I'm your boss and I said so. And, I just changed my mind. You get to play primary in our next rescue. Get in the chair."

Paul groaned, "Aw Laura, do I have to?"

Laura crossed her arms. "Get in the chair, Paul!"

Sighing dramatically, Paul rolled onto him front, hopped gracefully to his feet and trudged over to the guard chair. Will smirked and went to go sit in the other guard chair, while Laura grabbed me,

"I want you to do an obnoxious active rescue- drown, grab him and try to take him under, and then have a seizure and go unconscious." She smirked. "He'll never knew what hit him."

I laughed, "Annoyed, are we?

She rolled her eyes. "If he gets me, I get him back." I laughed, then half-skipped out of the office to the pool deck. After shedding my towel on a nearby bench, I dove into the shallow end of the pool, enjoying the feeling of the cold water.

"HEY! NO DIVING IN THE SHALLOW END!" I turned towards the source of the voice to see Will glaring down at me. I stuck my tongue out at him, and began to do a few laps. Once I was nearer to Paul's chair, and in deep enough water, I began to flail around as though I was an active drowning victim.

I heard the typical three whistles, a splash, and then, just as Paul was about to grab me, I turned around and grabbed HIM with all my strength. However, apparently it wasn't enough, and Paul just began swimming as though it was a proper rescue, completely unhindered. Rats. I guessed I'd better start eating bon-bons or something.

But no matter, I simply moved onto the seizure portion, making sure to hit him in the face a few times. He promptly dropped me- I began to seize and sink at the same time- swearing. However, he was still in the middle of a rescue, so despite that fact that his face probably hurt quite a bit (I did manage to get in a couple of good thwacks before going under) he still had to grab me, pull me from the bottom, and hold me in the water until I was done with my mock seizure (I personally thought it was one of my better ones). When I finally went still, he brought me to the side of the pool, where a laughing Will was waiting to take my arms as Paul was forced to run for the backboard to hoist me out of the pool. Finally having removed me from the pool, Paul bent over me,

"Ok, let's give her CPR. 2 Rescue breaths!" he half cackled as he forced open my mouth, and was about to put his mouth on top of mine, which was not only incorrect (barriers!) but also disgusting, so I brought my knee up into his gut and sat up.

"Don't even think about it!"

Paul glared at me, unable to speak for the moment. I turned around to see Laura on the ground, holding her sides. For a moment, I thought that we were dealing with a breathing emergency before I realized that she was laughing hysterically. Will was doing the same and so, of course, I had to start.

Paul just glared at all of us. "Going...to...KILL...you..."

"Katie...that...was...amazing..." Laura managed to choke out, attempting to get to her feet. I just grinned at her, hopping to my feet and curtseying.

"Thank you. Thank you very much."

"Hey, who's that?" Paul was no longer glaring at me, but pointing to the parking lot, where a looming figure stood in the shadow of the trees, watching. I frowned at it.

"A supervisor maybe?" Will suggested. Laura looked confused,

"They would have spoken to me first."

"It's probably just a hiker then." I commented. "Maybe he's lost or something, I dunno." Abruptly, the figure turned and disappeared into the woods.

Laura frowned, "That was weird."

Will laughed, "Welcome to Glouster."

I rolled my eyes. "Right." Turning to Laura, I asked, "Hey, can I have first break? I wanna eat my breakfast...actually...now I suppose it's more like lunch..."

Laura looked as though she was about to say yes, but Will jumped in, "wait, could I PLEASE take it? I promised Sarah that I'd meet her at noon." Sarah was Will's girlfriend and, funnily enough, my best friend. She'd also kill both of us if Will didn't make that time, so I quickly agreed,

"Ok, ok, let him have it. But I want second!" Laura nodded,

"Seems fair enough. Later Will! And don't be a second late or,"

"I'll kill you." I finished for her, crossing my arms in an attempt to look menacing. It probably was a pretty pathetic attempt, but Will was at least nice enough to pretend to be frightened before taking off towards the parking lot.

I watched him, thoroughly amused as I watched him race away- probably trying to get a shower in before he went to meet Sarah. I'd have to call and warn her.

Sighing, I retrieved my towel from the bench and wrapped myself in it as I headed back to the office to finish up my Poptarts.

"I'm still going to get you for that." Paul commented, a grin spreading across his face as he took sight of me.

I chuckled. "Good luck."

"Oh...I don't need luck." he reached down and picked me up, throwing me over his shoulder (my towel fell off and hit the floor) and carrying me to the pool edge, with me screaming in protest the whole time,

"NOT...COOL...PUT...ME...DOWN...LAURAAAAAA! LAUUUUUUUUURAAAA!! HELP ME!" Paul laughed maliciously, easily removing me from his shoulder and holding me over the side. "LAURAAAAAAA!"

Laura poked her head out of the pool shed, "Paul. Put her down. NOW."

"But...but...rescue!" Paul called back. "She's wet anyway."

"I don't care. Put her down!"

Paul sighed, and then set me to my feet. I crossed m arms and stuck my tongue out at him. Then I pretended to be mad- "YOU BETTER RUN!"

Laughing, Paul began to sprint off towards the shallow end of the pool. I chased him- sadly, my years of track didn't help much, and he kept evading me. "I...WILL...GET...YOU!"

Paul just kept laughing. Finally, it was too much, and I fell to the ground, laughing myself. It looked like the beginning of a fun shift...


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I'm not Steph...though I wish I was XD

Jacob Black

It felt odd being human again, to shed the wolf and put on this new skin. It felt odd to be wearing clothes again- even if it was just the sweats I'd managed to scrounge up from a nearby house- I highly doubted the people inside would ever think to blame werewolves as the cause. I contemplated this as I walked back towards the pool- how much humanity could one lose? I suddenly had a greater understanding of the bloodsuckers.

It was then that I heard the sound of swearing coming from the pool where I'd first seen her. Feeling oddly panicked, I ran down towards the fence, just in time to she her seizing all over some lifeguard. I was about to hop the fence and come to her rescue when I noticed the smile on her face, the deliberateness within her movements. She was faking it! Relief unlike anything I'd really felt before pulsed through my veins, and I felt my breathing and heart rate slowly return to normal.

The guard had finally got her to the side- his nose was bleeding, she must have gotten a couple good hits on him- and I watched was he and a third male guard pulled her out. She was laughing pretty hard, but the guys looked pretty serious. And that's when I heard, "Ok, rescue breathing!" coming from the one who had pulled her out. Immediately, I felt my body begin to shake and tense- they could seriously hurt her with something like that. And there was no way NO WAY that I wanted that guy's lips anywhere near hers.

However, before I could move, I saw her knee come into contact with a particularly awkward part of his genitalia. I was relieved for a moment- and somewhat glad to see that she could more or less handle herself- before fighting an urge to tear that guy apart anyway. But, the guards were all laughing, and causing a scene would probably ruin their moods.

There was something special about her laughter- bubbly, contagious. Every inch of her small frame seemed to shine as she laughed- from the sun-kissed skin to her sparkling green eyes to her beautiful blonde hair. It was quickly becoming my favorite sound in the world- addictive, in a way.

The worst part was that I'd never even met her. As I stared through the fence, I thought of a way- any way- to fix that. The most important thing was to be careful, not to frighten her. If not, I could come across as some sort of creepy stalker...

I blinked, coming back to myself suddenly as I noticed that all four of the guards were staring at me. Oops. It looked like I was coming across as a stalker already.

Blushing- decidedly not something that I generally do- I quickly disappeared into the woods in order to contemplate the matter at hand.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I wish I owned Edward…but sadly, I don't

Disclaimer: I wish I owned Edward…but sadly, I don't. He and the rest of the Twilight gang belong to the lovely Mrs. Meyer….

Katie Sanders

Though it was a fun shift- Paul and I had become locked in an afternoon-long quest for revenge on eachother- I still felt compelled to give Will a hard time as he walked into shift fifteen minutes late, blushing furiously and muttering apologies.

"God Will!" I crossed my arms as he stumbled into the office.

"I'm so sorry! Sarah and I were, well, er..." A grin broke out across his face, and he turned even redder than he already was- something which I hadn't thought possible before.

I covered my ears with my hands. "LALALALALA I cant hear you! I don't particularly want to hear what you and Sarah do in your free time, thank you very much!" He started cracking up, and I glared at him, "And anyway, if you'll be so kind as to go up for Laura, I have a break to attend to."

Will stopped laughing and turned slightly big-brotherly, "Where are you goin?"

I rolled my eyes, "Just for a walk in the woods. I'll be back in a half hour, promise."

Will frowned at me. "You better be. One minute later and I'm sending someone in there to find you."

I sighed. "Yes mom. Can I go now?" Without waiting for an answer, I flashed him my best grin and darted out of the pool before anyone could say anything in protest.

The woods were lovely- I loved the canopy the trees made over my head, the utter peacefulness contained by nature. I was alone here- really alone, connected more to the world around me than I had been in awhile.

If I had my way, I'd live in the woods. The forest by Groto is honestly one of my favorite parts about working there. There's just something about being able to walk directly out of civilization, leaving people and the problems they cause behind you. It's an escape by nature.

I began to pick up the pace of my walk, turning it into a run- mostly because I was starting to get bored and wanted to have some fun. However, this turned out to be a dumb idea, as I wound up tripping over a rock and began to fall forwards. But I didn't hit the ground-something-or someone- was suddenly there, holding me up. I whirled around, startled, to face one of the tallest, most muscular Indians I'd ever seen. He was looking at me with a concern which I was unaccustomed to- it brought a blush to my cheeks.

"Are you all right?"

I nodded, knocked wordless for a second as I fought to regain my balance. "Yes...yes I'm fine." I finally managed

He smiled, a smile which completely transformed his face; it became younger, happier as he seemed to transform from a 30 year old to an 18 year old right before my very eyes. "Glad to hear it- you shouldn't run in the woods; it's dangerous."

I chuckled. I knew fully well how dangerous running in the woods could be- it was hard enough for me to run on flat surfaces (which had made track quite the experience), and I'd nearly killed myself once while trying to race a friend of mine which descending a mountain- but I wasn't about to admit that to him. So I simply shrugged and responded with a coy smile, "That's never stopped me."

Something clouded his eyes, though his smile stayed the same, "You sound proud of that."

I shrugged, "there's no point in throwing your life away under the pretense of being safe. The purpose of life is to live, you know."

He shook his head at me, "Exactly. So you should stay alive." I rolled my eyes at him, blushing as I realized that he was still holding me up. Awkwardly, I backed up and held out my hand,

"Anyway, I'm Katie Sanders. And you are?"

He took it, gently- though it nearly caused me to jump- he was warm. "Jacob Black."

I shook it. "Are you from here Jacob? I've never seen you before?" I wondered if this was a lie- he did look vaguely familiar- but decided to leave the response up to him, mostly because I'd rather not sound like a complete fool.

He shook his head, and something flashed briefly across his dark eyes, "Nope, I'm from a little place out in Washington State called La Push Reservation. I'm just here because I," he hesitated for a moment, "Had to get away from things for awhile."

I nodded- I knew the feeling only too well. How many times had I too wished the same thing, that I could just get away from it all? I'd even considered going into the "great beyond" every now and again- but luckily, I'd always managed to talk myself out of that particular path. "Makes sense. So are you staying with relatives, or...?"

He shook his head, "No, I'm alone. Been staying in a whole bunch of different places. But I only just got to Glouster this morning..."

I raised an eyebrow, "So you've never seen the town before?"

He shook his head, and then a smile flittered briefly across his face, "No, but I'd love to find someone to show me the sights. Know anyone who'd be interested in that job?" He winked at me.

I grinned, "I'd be happy to show you the sights in our wonderful little town- not that there are many, it's pretty boring."

He chuckled, "I'm sure that's not true. It seems bigger than where I come from- much more interesting. Less woodsey"

I shook my head slightly, "I like the sound of your town. It seems quiet- and I love the woods so..." I allowed my voice to trail off.

He smiled, "Yeah, it's definitely good for woods..."

I grinned, "Maybe I should visit sometime."

His dark eyes abruptly lit up with an overwhelming sincerity, "I'd love that." His penetrating gaze caused me to blush-again, and I smiled at him, as  
I made my way over to a rock and sat down- standing was beginning to become a wee bit uncomfortable.  
It didn't take me for surprise, for some reason, when Jacob gently sat close beside me. Nor was it as startling as it should have been. Something about it just felt...right. I cleared my throat to break the silence that had followed his statement.

"So..."

A chuckled rumbled through him, "So...you live 'round here?"

I rolled my eyes, "Sadly. I live about five minutes up the street, and have for the past ten years when my parents wrenched me away from my home in Florida." I said this last part dramatically, pretending to be distraught rather badly...there was a reason I'd taken up stage managing as opposed to acting...

He laughed full out- eyes lighting up and dancing- they entranced me. It was fascinating, really. "How cruel." He commented

"Isn't it though?" I began to laugh along with him- my laugh sounded remarkably high in comparison with his deep voice.

As my laughter died down, I leaned back against the rock, resting my head against the soft moss which covered the tree. I'd known this spot well; it was what one could call my "thinking spot"- though, generally I liked to climb the moss covered tree rather than sit on the rock underneath it. But, at the moment, I found I had no desire to climb. I was content just to sit on the rock.  
He cleared his throat, bringing me back to the present. I glanced down at the watch on my wrist- and realized that I had three minutes to get back to Groto before Will panicked and sent someone out for me. Groaning, I sat up slowly.

"What's wrong?" Jacob wanted to know.

"I have to go before Will- he's a fellow guard of mine- sends people out looking for me. He's a little, er, protective..." My voice trailed off, and I struggled to my feet- the rock was a little high up for me.

In a flash, Jacob had jumped down from the rock, offering a hand to help me. I took it eagerly- enjoying the electricity flowing through it. It was surprising really, the sudden intensity of my emotions- it made me feel as though something had changed, and changed permanently.

This both thrilled and frightened me, as I stood up, appraising him, "So, when are you free?"

He looked at me in confusion, and I clarified, "For the tour."

He grinned, "I haven't been up to much these days- just name the time and place, and I'll be there."

I paused for a moment, thinking, "The next day I actually have off isn't until Friday, but do you want to do it Thursday night instead? At, say 7 or so?"

Jacob nodded, "Sure. Thursday at 7...where do you want to meet?"

I pointed towards the direction that I'd come from, "By the sign out there." I grinned, "So, see you Thursday?"

His grin, if possible, was even wider, "See you Thursday."

I gave him a wave, and half-ran back to the pool, emotions completely unrecognizable. Something had changed, though I didn't know what. And somehow, I just knew- my life would never again be the same.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** I am actually not Stephenie Meyer. I know, I know, stop gasping with shock. :-P ...hah...i wish...

**Author's Note:** Sorry it's taken so long to update...I was on vacation (you KNOW you're jealous :-D) And I apologize for the lack of updates you may see in the near future; it's getting to be that lovely time of year when highschool students confine themselves to their textbooks to prepare for...AP EXAMS!! (funeral march). And thanks to the one of you who reviewed...it made my day :-D

So yeah...review! It makes me happy!

**Jacob**

I followed Katie at a distance, unwilling to let her out of my sight. It was stupid, but whenever I lost track of her, I was filled with such intensely irrational fear that it hurt to breathe. I suddenly understood, with a whole new intensity, how Sam must have felt when he practically mauled Emily. The very thought of something like that ever happening to _her _made my stomach turn, and I fought to keep the last thing I'd eaten down in its rightful place.

Then I realized that I'd not eaten for about 24 hours, maybe more. Food had held little interest for me on my journey; I'd been too busy wallowing in self pity- I could hardly remember why now. It didn't really matter at the moment, anyway- hunger was gnawing at my stomach, making me feel rather weak. I knew that I had to eat, or pass out from starvation, soon. But finding food would mean that I'd have to let _her_ out of my sight, and that thought was unbearable, inexcusable.

But, pushing raw emotion aside with difficulty, I knew I wouldn't be any good as a protector if I was too weak to even stand. So I made a deal with myself- I'd make sure that she arrived safely at the pool, then run out and "borrow" food from someone. I, of course, knew intellectually that stealing was wrong, however, I had no cash on me, and the pain from the hunger was becoming unbearable. I resolved to pay back whatever I took- someday.

Finally having made a decision, I continued to follow her back to the pool. The moment I saw her step inside the fence safely, I darted out of the woods at an unhuman speed and raced up the street. It really wasn't that hard to find an empty house- this seemed to be a town where most of the people actually went out to do things during the day.

I managed to pry the door open, despite my hungered state, without setting off the burglar alarm (always a plus), and snuck over to the refrigerator. Starved, I grabbed the first things I saw- bread, some yogurt, an apple- and sat down on the floor to munch on them. After not eating for several days, it was the best snack I could've asked for.

After wolfing down the first helping, I returned to the fridge to collect some more food. Then I caught sight of the family's kitchen phone, and suddenly, I remembered Billy, realizing that I hadn't really talked to anyone from the reservation since, well, I'd spoken with Sam before leaving.  
After having a quick moral debate with myself, I decided that, now that I was officially a felon, there couldn't be any harm in using that phone to make a collect call to Washington and have a good ol' talk with the guys on the reservation.

Stuffing the last of a cracker into my mouth- something which had been left out on the counter, I jumped at the phone and dialed home. Someone picked up on the first ring.

"Hello?" I would have recognized that wise, gruff voice anywhere. Hearing my dad speak for the first time in a few weeks made me suddenly homesick, and I had to swallow before replying,

"Hey Dad. Guess who?"

"Jake." His voice flooded with relief, which was then replaced by an angry, "where the hell have you been?"

I paused for a moment- I wanted to phrase this right- "I'm in a little town up on the east coast- It was kind of hard to stop running once I started."

There was silence on the other end, followed by a slightly stunned, "You're on the east coast...where?!"

I cracked a half-grin, "Connecticut."

"Connecticut. Do you have any idea how worried we've been back here? I wanted to come looking for you weeks ago, but Sam wasn't having that. Said you needed to be left alone." There was a pause and then Billy asked what, for him, was a very hard question, "Are you feeling all right now?"

I had to grin fully this time- my current answer was just so much different than what it would have been 24 hours ago, "Actually...I'm more than all right...I kind of met someone over here."

Billy's voice was caked with a hard disbelief, "You've already met someone?" I could hear him sigh, and then, "Look, son, I know getting over Bella's difficult, but you can't..."

"No, dad, it's not like that." I interrupted him. "I think...I think I've imprinted. It sure as hell feels a lot like what Sam feels for Emily, if not stronger. It's like...I saw her and now I can't leave her alone. Even now, it hurts to think that she's out there, where I can't watch her, fending for herself."

"I see..." Billy's tone was different now, thoughtful. "So I suppose you'll be wanting to stay over there then? At least until you can bring her back here...if she even wants to come back here."

I nodded into the phone, and then, realizing that Billy couldn't see me, "Yup. That's what I was thinking...I guess. It's just...I don't really have a place to stay, stuff to eat...ya know?"

I could practically hear the grin in Billy's voice. "I think you old man has scraped together enough to have you live out there for a couple months. I'll send you the checkbook...Sam can be over there in about a day, if you'd like to talk to him."

I grinned- it'd be great to see Sam, to have his help. "That'd be awesome dad." I glanced at the clock, realizing that I was slightly full, that I could now go get to the pool. "I'm gonna go now though- there's a lot to be done. Do me a favor and have Sam meet me in the Cotton Hallow woods near Groto pool."

Billy cackled, "Will do. And stay safe, will ya kid?"

"Sure, sure." I said, patronizingly, "Talk to ya later dad."

"Love you Jake." With those words, the line went dead, and I hung the phone back onto the wall. After hastily cleaning up the kitchen (my "snack" had made sort of a mess), I darted out the door, and raced back to the pool to do some more patrolling.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** Sadly, I do not own Twilight...

**Author's Note**: Hello all! Sorry it's taken so long to update...it's been crazy (Thank you AP exams/work/ahhh) Anyhow...yeah...REVIEW!! please please? on anything...:-P love yall!

**Katie**

I was distracted throughout my entire shift- something which became rather apparent to both Will and Pat when I dropped an entire thing of Phenol Red into the pool while attempting to check the chlorine/pH levels. Of course they both laughed at me- Pat a bit more than Will, who just sort of shook his head in an exasperated manner and walked away.

Therefore, it was with great relief that I finally walked off the pool grounds at around 4, heading immediately for my little white car. My cell phone suddenly vibrated, and I jumped about a foot in the air. Laughing weakly at myself, I picked it up,

"Hello?"

"Hey Katie!" I immediately recognized Rachel's voice

"Hey Rach, what's up?"

"Not too much...Will and I were wondering if you wanted to get the group together and head down to that cheesy concert thing on the green they're throwing tonight. We'd have to bring plenty of food, of course!"

I chuckled, "Of course food's a given. I'm in if you guys are in; I've miss you all! Meet you at 6 with chips?"

Rach laughed, "Sounds good! I'd better call the others! See you at 6 in the usual spot then?"

"Yuppers!" I replied, but the line was already dead. Still, chuckling to myself, I stuck the phone back in my bag, which , for some reason, seemed much harder than usual, due to the fact that my bag had grown extremely full. Muttering to myself, I resolved to clean it out at the nearest possible opportunity. As soon as I finally stuffed it into the plethora of junk, I looked up for the first time and _wham!_ walked straight into someone's...back?

He turned around, and I recognized the same man from before, Jacob. "Hey Jacob" I greeted him for the second time that day, rubbing my head- his back was really hard.

Something glinted in his eyes, for a second- I thought it might be amusement, though I wasn't entirely sure, and then he looked seriously down at me, "You ok?"

I chuckled, "Yeah, fine. I'm always walking into things..." I turned red as soon as the words were out, and he laughed, causing me to blush.

"Well, if that's the case..."

I shrugged, "So...what brings you back here?"

Something else, something that I couldn't even begin to identify, flashed quickly across his face before he replied, "Just checking out the sights."

I smiled, and then got what I thought was a brilliant idea- Will and Rachel would probably kill me for talking to strangers again, but I didn't care- I trusted this Jacob person, despite the fact that I'd only met him once before, "Hey, you doing anything tonight?" I asked casually

He grinned, "No, why?"

"Well, a couple of my friends and I were gonna go to this concert thing on the green- it's this really big field thing we have here- and I was wondering if you wanted to, er, come?" The words sounded rushed together, and, for a spilt second, I wondered if he'd heard them at all.

But then his face lit up- really, that's the only way to describe it, completely LIT up, "I'd love to." there was no mistaking the sincerity of his tone.

I grinned back at him, completely relieved, "Great! Do you wanna meet us there or…er…it starts at around 6, and I have to pick up some food and stuff- you could come with? I'd kind of appreciate the company," I admitted sheepishly.

Jacob nodded, "I'd like that actually." He winked at me, "And don't worry. I'll keep you company"

I rolled my eyes and shoved him towards the car, trying to disguise the fluttery sensation that his presence seemed to impose upon my stomach. "Get in the car, silly."

He just chuckled again and ducked in. Heart still pounding, I followed, feelings still a complete mess.


	8. Chapter 8

_**Disclaimer**: I don't own Twilight. I promise. This is only for fun._

_**Author's Note**: Wow, it's been awhile! I'm really, really sorry for the long period between updates, I promise I'll get better at this ;-P. In the meantime, enjoy the newest chapter of Wild Moon, and please please please review!!_

We arrived at the concert a bit late- it had taken forever to find a parking place, hardly surprising, really, considering that most of the town had shown up. I finally had to settle for one by the town's local _Whole Foods_- a fifteen minute walk from the Green.

Ordinarily, I would have been sort of annoyed at having to walk all the way there- but tonight, I didn't mind so much. Most of it had to do with the person walking next to me, of course.

Though I'd barely known him, I felt as though I could talk to Jacob about anything- our conversation on the way over ranged from waffles to the score of the last Marlins game. For some reason, I had gotten closer to Jacob in 10 minutes than I had to most of my family in 17 years. And this both scared and thrilled me.

The green was lit up, as usual, with the stage dead center, and some wanna-be 80's band wailing out "oldies". I was lucky to have Jacob once we got there- he held all 5 feet of me up in the air so I could see where my friends were seated.

We found them, all set up under a big oak tree. Rachel was cuddled into Will's side; Kaela into my friend Ethan's side, and Laura into Matt's. Christen and Kelsey, of course, were having a popcorn war with each other.

As soon as they noticed I was coming, both Kaela and Rach jumped up and ran over to tackle me- and I would have hit the ground (like usual), if Jake hadn't been standing behind me, holding me up. "Hey, hey, hey!" I said, laughing, and trying to squirm away from them.

Rach took a step back. "You work too much!" she accused. "I haven't seen you in FOREVER!"

Kaela, however, had moved past that part of the game, and was now looking at Jacob, confused. I grinned, "Oh, and this is my friend Jacob Black. He's new to town, and I promised to show him around."

My friends both somehow managed to shoot me looks of warning, and greet him in a charming fashion at the same time. I rolled my eyes at them- honestly, you'd think they knew by NOW that I could take care of myself.

"Well let's go get a seat!" Rach grabbed my hand, and I fought to grab Jacob's, as we darted over to the blanket. Jacob set our bag of chips down on the mat, and leaned against the tree. He grinned at me, and, without even thinking about it, I leaned in to him.

He was ridiculously warm- as though he had some sort of fever or something. I looked up at him, concerned.

"What's wrong?" he asked, his face becoming worried as well.

"Jake, you're burning up! Are you feeling ok?"

He chuckled, "Yeah, don't worry about it- I always run hot."

"Yeah, but this is like, really, really, REALLY hot. Seriously. We should take you home, or to the hospital, or SOMETHING." I began to stand up, but he grabbed my hand and wouldn't let me move.

"Katie, I'm fine. I promise. It's a…" he paused for about half a second, "a genetic thing with my family. Nearly all of my cousins have it."

I looked at him, still not convinced, "Are you sure?"  
"Positive." He smirked, and looked down at me. "So…"

I rolled my eyes. "So what?"

"You think I'm hot?"

I mock punched him, hoping that the sun had set enough so that my blush wasn't visible. "Shut up."

"Hey, you said it, not me!"

"Hey Katie?" That voice belonged to Will- I jumped, not realizing that there were other people around. It was so easy to get wrapped up in my own private bubble with Jacob.

"Hey Will?" I tried to keep my voice casual, so that he wouldn't know he'd startled me.

"Can you sub for me from 5:30 to 7:45 at Groto tomorrow? It's just closing with Marie and Adam- not really that hard. I seem to have…" He glanced minutely at Rachel, "Other plans"

I raised an eyebrow, "Oh really? Other plans involving _what_ exactly?"

"Katie, just do it. Please?" That came from Rachel, who was making puppy dog eyes at me, "I'll bring you Starbucks tomorrow morning…or Will will…"

I laughed. "Well, if it's Starbucks…" I sighed- closing shift was easy, but meant I'd be working a good 8 hour day. "I'll do it. But you OWE me"

Will pretended to bow down, "Thank you!"

I rolled my eyes, "You're welcome. Now watch the concert!"

The rest of the concert was exactly like the million I'd been to before- in terms of the actual concert itself. For some reason, that night seemed to be the most different, interesting, and wonderful nights of my life- and that's only a slight exaggeration. I spent the entire time in deep conversation with Jacob- though, I often found myself distracted by his impossibly deep, penetrating eyes. They seemed to stare directly into the bottom of my soul- it thrilled me.

"Oh right. So maybe being a kindergarten teacher isn't exactly a quest for presidency, but it's fun, ok?!" I stuck my tongue out at him. "Besides, I'm good with little kids."

Jacob reached out a hand, "I'd bet you are. You seem like that kind of person- kind, compassionate."

I blushed, and, trying not to let him see, added, "Well, I've told you all my career plans- what's up for you next?"

He opened his mouth than abruptly shut it. "What's up for me is a nice long walk back to the car with you, and then a short run home- I live right by where you parked."

I looked around, surprised to discover that most of the people had already left. "Oh…right…" I looked around- my friends were all getting packed up.

Kaela saw me looking around, "Do you need a ride home, Katie?" she wanted to know.

"No, I'm good. My car's just back over there. I can walk."

"You sure?" She looked from me to Jacob. "Do you want us to walk you back?"

"Positive." I said firmly. "Do you need help carrying anything? I can help you two back to your car."

Kaela shook her head. "No, we got it. I'll see you soon, right?"

"Absolutely. BYE EVERYONE!" I shouted to the group as a whole, and was greeted with,

"BYE KATIE!" Laughing slightly to myself, I grabbed Jacob's hand, and began the long walk back to the car.


	9. Chapter 9

_Disclaimer: I don't own twilight_

_Author's note: Hey ya'll!! Sorry for the long period imbetween updates- once more, life's a bit crazy- I'm home for about a day (which is almost over) before heading off to Coast Guard something or other in the morning! I hope you enjoy!_

**Jacob**

The stars smiled down at us as we headed back to Katie's car- it had been-and still was- a magical night. I glanced down at Katie, whose tiny hand was clutched in my massive one. She caught me looking at her and blushed, "What is it?"

I laughed, "Nothing." She shrugged, and yawned. "Are you tired?"

She shrugged again, giving me a wry smile, "Sorta. Teaching a whole bunch of kids really takes a lot out of you." Unconsciously, she leaned into me. My whole side felt as though it had caught fire, and without thinking, I scooped her up and cradled her to my chest.

Her eyes opened, surprised, but the words that came out of her mouth were of a different nature, "Are you sure I'm not too heavy for you?"

I rolled my eyes, "Don't be insulting." Juvenilely, I stuck my tongue out at her, and she laughed, leaning her head against my chest and closing her eyes.

We didn't say much for the rest of the walk- I could tell she was pretty spent- but our silence was a comfortable one, peaceful. My steps were slower than usual- I didn't want her driving home alone, but, of course, knew I had no choice- she had no idea who I really was, or, more correctly, _what_ I really was. And I had no clue how to tell her…

My thoughts immediately flashed to whatI had to do afterwards- go meet Sam to grab money, clothes, food and God-only-knows-what-else. But, of course, I would follow her home before- I _had _to.

She slowly turned her face into my chest, half asleep, and I wondered- who on earth had created this amazingly fragile, perfect creature? It couldn't possibly be the same force behind the creation of us werewolves- or worse yet, those horrible bloodsuckers. I found myself mesmerized by her face, drinking in every detail.

And then, too soon, we were there- back at _Whole Foods_, back at her car. I held her close for one second, and then, thought it caused me physical pain, set her on her feet. She yawned, keeping one of her arms on me. "Hey Jake?" she whispered.

"Yeah?" I whispered back, holding her close.

"This is going to sound weird…I've barely known you, but…" her voice trailed off. "I've never felt this way before."

The words, though mumbled in her exhaustion, sent a rush of fire through my body, and I released one arm around her to tilt her chin up to my face. "Me neither." I whispered and then…and then I kissed her.

I cannot even begin to describe the emotions which overcame me during that moment. It was an odd sensation- as though I'd been missing something desperately my entire life, and had just now found it. It was relief, it was joy, it was…amazing.

And then, too soon, we pulled apart- and it was over. I helped her into her car, "Are you going to be ok to drive home?" I asked her. The question in itself was a simple courtesy- I planned on following her home, just in case anyway.

She nodded, "Yup. I'm sure." She leaned over, and gave me a peck on the lips, started the engine, and then she was off.

I did follow her to her house- I had to make sure she arrived safely- and, when it was apparent that she was in the house, with no immediate danger around her, I ran back to the pre-arranged meeting spot.

It wasn't completely vacated, however. Someone was sitting inside- my Rabbit? I did a double-take, and then- Quil stepped out. "Hey kid!" I just laughed.

"Since when am I the kid? Good to see you Quil!"

Quil laughed, "I could say the same about you- don't disappear like that on us again! We missed you!"

I grinned, "Well, I can't promise anything, but I'll _try_ to stay next time I get back."

Quil rolled his eyes, "And when exactly would that be? Sam mentioned something…something about imprinting." He raised an eyebrow, "He said you needed a few things, that you'd probably be staying here for awhile." A shadow suddenly crossed over his face, "All the guys are gonna miss you- your Dad was a bit sad too."

I felt a lump come up in my throat- thinking of home, "I know…I miss it already. But the thing is…now that I've met _her_ here, I can't just leave. I mean, it's crazy- but in 24 hours, she's become my entire world, my entire…."

He put a hand on my shoulder, to stop my rant, "Hey, chill. I of all people should understand- I mean, at least yours is probably closer to you in age!"

I chuckled, "Ok, that's true." Shaking my head, I added, "But it is crazy. No matter what the situation."

Quil nodded, "Which is why I've brought you some things- to make it easier." He motioned to the car, "Starting with your car…and your own apartment."

I blinked, "What?"

He laughed, "Come on! Where else were you going to stay?"

I thought for a moment, "Hadn't really thought about it."

He rolled his eyes, "Of course not- listen, it's not all that expensive, and your first four months are already paid off, but you'll probably need some sort of job or something to get the rest...that one, you're gonna have to figure out…" He laughed.

I chuckled, "I think I can do that. God, you guys are lifesavers."

He punched my arm lightly- "That's what we're here for." He chuckled. "Now let's get to that new apartment of yours- I'm dying to see if it's anything like those pictures that popped up on my computer while I was looking for it!"

I just laughed, "Sounds good to me. I'm exhausted."


End file.
